Artist Statement
As this was my first real ceramics unit (excluding the signature stamp mini-unit), I learned a lot about clay, sculpting, and glazing. One thing I learned that I will never forget are the three stages of ceramic dryness. Through this project, I realized that plastic clay is the easiest to work with because it is still wet and soft and that bone dry clay is not. Unfortunately, this realization came a little bit too late. For example, I made the stem of my clover pot in the beginning of the unit, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later that I finished my clover pot. By the time I was done with my clover, though, my stem piece had become so bone dry that it was literally impossible to attach the stem to the bottom of the clover, regardless of how much slip I used. Ultimately, I had to throw away my stem and make another one out of fresh clay. I applied a layer of plastic clay onto the bottom of the clover, then slipped and scored to attach my newly made stem to the clover (even this took tremendous effort). Now, I know that pieces that need to be attached together must be attached on the same day, or at least in the same week so that one piece does not become too dry for the other.
Another important lesson I learned is to test out glaze colors that I’m uncertain of before using them. I wanted my clover pot to be a green color, and because light green was the first green paint jar that I saw on the shelf, I used it without stopping to wonder how the final product would turn out. At this time, this color wasn’t displayed on the boards, so I wasn’t able to see how the green color would turn out after firing. I should have tested this color out on one of the rectangular clay pieces, but I was too lazy. I will definitely keep this lesson in mind for any of my future ceramics projects.
Even though I made several mistakes that I deeply regret, this unit also helped me to develop as an artist. It helped me learn about a lot of glazing options, and I think one of my strengths in this project was the variety of materials I used: underglaze paint for my cup and candy pots, acrylic paint for my pierced pot, underglaze markers, and broken glass. The unit also taught me the steps of underglazing, which I initially had trouble fully understanding: First comes the underglaze, then the underglaze markers, and finally the clear glaze. There were also some things I figured out on my own. For instance, I found that the sponge helps smoothen out the uneven surfaces of the sides of my pinch pots. By soaking a sponge in water and using it to gently smooth out the sides of my pots, I was able to get rid of many bumps and straighten out my sides. I have also come to learn that combining two pinch pots into a closed pot and then punching a hole down the center with a loop tool is an effective method of creating large pinch pots. I used this strategy to create my cup, and it definitely works better than trying to create one large pot from the beginning. One skill I would like to improve in is piercing. I was not completely satisfied with the holes I pierced on one of my pots because some of them did not look completely circular (some were more oval than others). In addition, I found it really hard to paint inside the holes. This is a skill I would like to work on throughout the year, and improving in this area would help me develop even more as an artist.
Another important lesson I learned is to test out glaze colors that I’m uncertain of before using them. I wanted my clover pot to be a green color, and because light green was the first green paint jar that I saw on the shelf, I used it without stopping to wonder how the final product would turn out. At this time, this color wasn’t displayed on the boards, so I wasn’t able to see how the green color would turn out after firing. I should have tested this color out on one of the rectangular clay pieces, but I was too lazy. I will definitely keep this lesson in mind for any of my future ceramics projects.
Even though I made several mistakes that I deeply regret, this unit also helped me to develop as an artist. It helped me learn about a lot of glazing options, and I think one of my strengths in this project was the variety of materials I used: underglaze paint for my cup and candy pots, acrylic paint for my pierced pot, underglaze markers, and broken glass. The unit also taught me the steps of underglazing, which I initially had trouble fully understanding: First comes the underglaze, then the underglaze markers, and finally the clear glaze. There were also some things I figured out on my own. For instance, I found that the sponge helps smoothen out the uneven surfaces of the sides of my pinch pots. By soaking a sponge in water and using it to gently smooth out the sides of my pots, I was able to get rid of many bumps and straighten out my sides. I have also come to learn that combining two pinch pots into a closed pot and then punching a hole down the center with a loop tool is an effective method of creating large pinch pots. I used this strategy to create my cup, and it definitely works better than trying to create one large pot from the beginning. One skill I would like to improve in is piercing. I was not completely satisfied with the holes I pierced on one of my pots because some of them did not look completely circular (some were more oval than others). In addition, I found it really hard to paint inside the holes. This is a skill I would like to work on throughout the year, and improving in this area would help me develop even more as an artist.